New therapies for childhood mental illness

Learn about: New therapies for childhood mental illness from Kenneth Duckworth, MD,...
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New therapies for childhood mental illness

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In terms of new treatments, I'm impressed at how the new psychosocial interventions are looking. Relatively speaking, the neurobiological medicine pathway, new drug discovery doesn't seem to be an active area right now, compared to the work being done on building people's strengths, resilience, involving families, using family psycho education, integrating substance abuse work into the care of the treatment. As we've gone forward in the world, these psychosocial interventions, working with both the mind and the environment, working with the parents, and working with the family. This idea that children may not have to be removed from the home to get care, is a relatively new idea; but it is one that is becoming quite powerfully embraced, at least in certain parts of the country. So find out. Is family stabilization available? Is multi-systemic therapy available? What are those options? One of the problems that we have had in the field is, we've had good treatments that people can't get. We've known for years that cognitive therapy helps depression, but many people still aren't trained in cognitive behavior therapy. So I encourage parents, when they are taking their child for an anxiety or depression problem, to ask therapists, what kind of therapy do you do?

Learn about: New therapies for childhood mental illness from Kenneth Duckworth, MD,...

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Kenneth Duckworth, MD

Psychiatrist, Harvard Professor & Medical Director for NAMI

Ken Duckworth, MD, serves as the medical director for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He is triple board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Adult, Child and Adolescent, and Forensic Psychiatry and has extensive experience in the public health arena.

Dr. Duckworth is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard University Medical School, and has served as a board member of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists. Dr. Duckworth has held clinical and leadership positions in community mental health, school psychiatry and now also works as Associate Medical Director for Behavioral Health at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Prior to joining NAMI in 2003, Dr. Duckworth served as Acting Commissioner of Mental Health and the Medical Director for Department of Mental Health of Massachusetts, as a psychiatrist on a Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) team, and Medical Director of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.

Dr. Duckworth attended the University of Michigan where he graduated with honors and Temple University School of Medicine where he was named to the medical honor society, AOA. While at Temple, he won awards for his work in psychiatry and neurology. He also has a family member living with mental illness.

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